Shelf organizer



Jan. 24, 1967 J. A. WHEATON SHELF ORGANIZER Filed April 13, 1965 IINVENTOR Jay y 4 A AXZWA BY Jaca- ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,300,057 SHELF ORGANIZER John A. Wheaten, RED. 3, Huntington, NY. 11743 Filed Apr. 13, 1965, Ser. No. 447,698 1 Claim. or. 211-184) This invention relates generally to shelf accessories. More specifically it relates to partitions for use on shelves.

It is generally well known that shelves excessively loaded with materials in confused array do not allow quick and easy location of any specific item from .among all the other material. Thus such a condition is undesirable to most persons.

Accordingly it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a shelf organizer device for use upon shelves, which has self-contained means to divide a total shelf space into .a plurality of smaller separated components into each of which various materials may be placed and thus specifically positioned for quick and easy relocating.

Another object is to provide a shelf organizer having the above object which can be simply placed upon :a shelf and which is adaptable for fitting shelves of any possible length.

Still another object is to provide a shelf organizer comprised of a plurality of interfitting units.

A yet further object is to provide a shelf organizer wherein the units have means for being securely interlocked.

Still a further object is to provide a shelf organizer which can be made of formed sheet metal.

Still a further object is to provide a shelf organizer which can be made of wood or molded plastic.

Other objects are to provide a shelf organizer which is simple in design, inexpensive to manufacture, rugged in construction, easy to use and efiicient in operation.

These and other objects will be readily evident upon a study of the following specification and the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of one of the shelf organizer units, showing one form of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a shelf showing thereupon an assembly of shelf organized units of the type shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a modified form of shelf organizer units;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation view of a shelf organizer assembly employing the type of units shown in FIG. 3, and

FIG. 5 is a top plan view thereof.

Referring now to the drawing in detail and especially to FIGS. 1 and 2, the numeral represents a shelf organizer according to the present invention, wherein there is a singular body element 12, made from sheet metal or other material if preferred. The body 12 is formed in U-shaped configuration having parallel, spaced apart, flat end walls 14 and an intermediate connecting wall 16. The walls are connected at right angle bends 18 therebetween. Each of the end walls has an upper edge 20 and vertical side edges 22 and 24. The intermediate wall has opposite edges 26 and 28.

A front slot 30 and a rear slot 32 is provided along the bends 18; each of the slots extending one half the length of the bend. Each of the slots originates from an opposite end of the bends, as is shown in FIG. 1.

In operative use, a plurality of body elements 12 are assembled upon a shelf 34 by interfitting a front slot of one body element with a rear slot .of an adjacent body element. Thus the end walls of adjacent body elements are brought adjacent each other to form upstanding partitions 36 which divide the area upon the shelf into component spaces 38. These component spaces are ideal for supporting books, magazines and similar shaped articles in upstanding adjacent relationship, thus providing easy access to each. Additionally the component spaces can be each assigned for storage of specific articles of various shape, thereby making location thereof quicker and easier.

In FIG. 3 a form of the invention is shown wherein there is a flat base member 42 which supports a pair of upstanding walls 44.

The base member is of a generally rectangular configuration wherein two opposite corners have been removed. Thus the base member 42 has two diagonally opposite front and rear square corners 46 and two diagonally opposite square front and rear notches 48.

The base member has opposite front and rear edges 50 and side edges 52. It is to be noted that each notch extends one half the width of the base member, and each of the notches is equal in area and shape to the area and shape of each of the corners 46 whereby a corner of one unit can be readily fitted into a notch of an adjacent unit.

The upper side 54 of the base member has a plurality of wedge shaped parallel slots 56, 58 and 60 for slidably receiving therein a wedge-shaped lower edge 62 of each of the walls 44. It is to be noted that slots 56 and 60 extend across the corner 46, while the slot 58 extends across the full central Width of the base.

In operative use, a plurality of bases 42 are placed alongside each other with the front corner of one base fitted into a front notch of an adjacent base, and a rear corner fitted into a rear notch of another adjacent base. The vertical walls are then slid into the wedge-shaped slots; it being noted that the slot 56 is in alignment with slot 58 to form a singular full length slot for supporting the entire length of the vertical wall.

Thus a practical shelf organizer has been provided.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it is understood that such changes will be limited to the spirit and scope of the present invention as is de fined in the appended claim.

I claim:

In a shelf organizer, the combination of a plurality of units, said units having means for being interfitted along a linear plane to form a singular assembly and each of said units having upstanding transverse extending walls to form dividing partitions for a shelf upon which said assembly of units is adapted to be placed, each of said units comprising a U-shaped body member having parallel spaced apart flat upstanding end walls and an interconnecting wall therebetween, a right angle bend between each of said walls, each of said end walls having a top edge, a front vertical edge and a rear vertical edge, said interconnecting wall having a horizontal front edge and rear edge, each of said bends having a slot along the apex of said bend, one of said slots extending from a rear edge and the other of said slots extending from a front edge, and both said slots extending to a midpoint between said front and rear edges to provide a means for interfitting said units.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,736,574 11/1929 Binks 211-184 X 2,112,498 3/1938 Lax 211-184 X 2,988,844 6/1961 Frimberger 46-30 3,008,581 11/1961 Kohler 211-11 3,138,283 6/1964 Peebles 220-22 FOREIGN PATENTS 531,754 1/ 1941 Great Britain.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

W. D. LOULAN, Assistant Examiner. 

